McKenzie Murphy Given Waiver by NCAA to Play for Eagles

Having played just one season at EWU and one in the now-defunct
Western Washington program, safety from Spokane completes paperwork
to play remainder of the season for injury-depleted Eagle
secondary

McKenzie Murphy, a safety on last year’s
Eastern Washington University football squad and a former player in
the now-defunct Western Washington football program, applied for
and was granted a waiver by the NCAA to play the remainder of the
season for the Eagles.

He was granted the waiver for personal circumstances that were
not within his control, and was given the ruling on Nov 8. He will
practice this week and is expected to travel to Saturday's (Nov.
11) game at Cal Poly where he may play for the injury-ravaged Eagle
secondary and on special teams.

In his sixth academic year since graduating in 2008 from Ferris
High School in Spokane, Wash., Murphy played the 2008 season at
Western, which dropped its program the following January. He stayed
at Western and eventually received his degree in accounting, and is
now pursuing his master’s degree at EWU in computer
science.

Murphy said he originally started the appeal process in the
summer to get the waiver, but an academic internship conflicted
with early-season practices. He said the NCAA responded quickly
upon presenting his final documentation last week, and within 24
hours was eligible again.

“I wanted to progress my career outside of football, and I
had time constraints with the internship that wouldn’t allow
me to play,” Murphy said. “But when the injuries
starting occurring, the coaches and I started joking about my
eligibility and I completed the appeal.”

Murphy, who turned 24 on Oct. 20, transferred to EWU in January
2012 and played for EWU that fall. Despite missing two games with a
broken thumb that required surgery and one with a concussion, he
played in 11 games as a backup safety and had 13 tackles and a pair
of interceptions. One of his picks was against Southern Utah when
he was playing with a heavily-padded cast.

“We are excited to have McKenzie back, but we’re
even more excited for that great young man,” said Eastern
head coach Beau Baldwin. “He’s not
only a good player, but he’s also a great teammate. He will
not only help us on defense, but he’ll be a great special
teams player too.”

While at Ferris, Murphy was an Associated Press first team
All-State selection and was the Greater Spokane League Defensive
MVP. He had 120 tackles and three interceptions as a senior.